CURRENT NOTES. 119 



genes.' " (2) L. B. Prout announces and describes the following new 

 melanic aberrations of species of Kiqiitlwcia. E. nanata ab. oliveri, 

 bred by Mr. Oliver from Warwickshire ; /•-'. lariciata ab. 7ii(/ra, captured 

 in the same district by Mr. Oliver; f,'. iuuotata ab. imicalor, bred 

 second-brood small dark form from Durham. (3) Notes on the Larval 

 and Pupal Stages in some of the Si'siiilae = Ae(ieiiidac, by Col. R. H. 

 Rattray. 



The following are the more important articles in the h'ntntnohxjirol 

 News for the latter half of 1914. (1) An account of the life and work 

 of " J. Brackenridge Clemens," who, it will be remembered, was the 

 friend and correspondent of Stainton, and who, with the latter, took 

 considerable interest in the Micro-lepidoptera of the United States. 

 Clemens was in fact the "father" of the study of the smaller moths 

 in America. (2) An account of " Butterfly-collecting in Mojave 

 County, Arizona," by J. R. Haskins, of Los Angeles, describes the 

 district in an interesting manner and gives notes on the chief species 

 and forms found, including I';/ra)iieis cardiii, Sync/doe californica, 

 I'ieris jnotoiUce, Libi/thea hachmanni, L'olias cnrytlnnne, Papilio astcriax, 

 etc. (3) " The origin of Oligotropism in Bees," by .John H. Lovell. 

 (4) Dr. Phillip P. Calvert continues his " Studies on Costa Rica 

 Odonata," dealing with the " Waterfall Dwellers " in this contribution. 

 There is one plate. (5) Messrs. E. M. Swainson and Henry Skinner 

 describe a larva of the rare Jamaican Papilio, P. honn'rns, and figure 

 it. (6) John Werner Pranzen gives a list, with notes, on " Minesota 

 Butterflies," mainly from his own observations. (7) Harry B. Weiss 

 goes into the subject of the introduction and spread of injurious 

 insects, in an article entitled " Insects found on Nurserj- Stock im- 

 ported into New Jersey during 1913." More than half the imported 

 stock was from Belgium, and the rest largely from Holland. A list of 

 the insects met with is given with the host plant of each species. 



(8) John H. Lovell enters into a discussion on the question " Why do 

 Honey-bees discriminate against black ?" He gives the curious facts 

 that, " Of a flock of twelve chickens running in a bee-yard seven black 

 ones were stung to death, while five light coloured ones escaped 

 uninjured. A white dog ran among the bee-hives without attracting 

 much attention, while at the same time a black dog was furiously 

 assailed by the bees." "A black and white cow, tethered about forty 

 feet from an apiary, was one afternoon attacked and badly stung by 

 bees. On examination it was found that the black spots had five or 

 six stings to one on the white." " A black felt hat will be literally 

 decorated with stings, while a gray hat will not get a single sting." 



(9) B. W. Evermann reports from the San Joaquin Valley, California, 

 on the abundance of Pi/ra»iiis canhii in April, 1914. He says, " As we 

 drove through the fields of yellow mustard these beautiful butterflies 

 flew up in front and on either side of us literally % tlwir t/unt.santls. 

 There must have been millions of them, they were everywhere in the 

 fields." (10) H. A. Allard describes a series of experiments he has made 

 on the subject of " Locust Stridulations." 



j^OC I E T IE S. 



The Entomological Society of London. — February 3n/, 1915. — 



